Trade reform in Latin America in the
1980s and 1990s was in significant part a reform of
policy-making institutions. The institutions that existed
when the reforms began had been created in response to
particular protectionist pressures at particular times, and
afterward they were controlled by the interests on whose
behalf they had been created. This book was prompted by
preliminary evidence suggesting that the reforms have been
better sustained in Peru than in Argentina. Peru has
continued its liberalization whereas Argentina has imposed a
number of new trade restrictions. Moreover, decisions on
many of Argentina's restrictions have not gone through
the new mechanisms. The objective of this book is to draw
lessons from Peruvian and Argentine experience that will be
useful to governments that want to maintain an open trade
regime. From a positive perspective, the authors want to
identify what the Peruvian government has done that has kept
its liberalization moving forward. The Peru study focuses on
how reform leaders in that country have reinforced the
evolution of a new management culture and how they have
disseminated widely in Peruvian society a positive vision of
Peru in the international economy.